by MarianBeaman | Oct 21, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Romance, Uncategorized
True Love This month would be the 75th wedding anniversary of my parents, Ray and Ruth Longenecker had they lived. True, they bickered from time to time, but I knew their love was deep and abiding. I rested in the assurance that they would never divorce. There were...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 23, 2015 | blog, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Dollar Discovery! On September 10, 2015 I opened an envelope dated April 30,1962 that Mother sent me in college. I had read her letter then, but did not open the Bossler Mennonite Church bulletin where she had tucked a dollar bill (series date 1957) until now. I...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 16, 2015 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
The closest thing I ever came to living in a convent was my year in the dormitory at Lancaster Mennonite School. It was much like living in the dorm at my alma mater, Eastern Mennonite College, now a University, but only more awkward. “Awkward?” you ask. “In what way...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 9, 2015 | blog, Conflict, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
Nuns live in convents. At least that was true in America in the1960s. Strictly speaking I was not an actual nun, a Catholic sister with a habit like Karen Leahy, who left her convent at Mount Maria to pursue a literary life and experience more freedom. (My review of...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 22, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, meditation, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
This week our family remembers the fourth week of July 2014. Last year Mother observed her 96th birthday on July 23. She died unexpectedly on July 28, five days later. This post will commemorate this milestone in two ways: cards sent to me along with images of...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 15, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
Did you grow up country? Can you picture a Dad, brother, or uncle toiling under the torrid July sun in the wheat field? If so, you know that farmers always wore hats with brims. The ruddy-faced farmers I knew in the fifties probably didn’t use Coppertone or any...
